


Drawings on the Sand

by LadyAxisNeoluna



Series: Orange Crane [3]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Children's Stories, Day At The Beach, Family Bonding, Gen, Homesickness, Kid Tsuna, musings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-02
Updated: 2015-03-02
Packaged: 2018-03-15 23:46:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3466544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyAxisNeoluna/pseuds/LadyAxisNeoluna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Her name, like her dreams are footprints hidden by the sea. Kid!Fem!27.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drawings on the Sand

**Author's Note:**

> AN: I am sorry in advance to Japanese and Italian readers if I get the customs and geography incorrectly.

The week went by so quickly for Setsuna. Usually, she feels like the day goes on forever when she spent time with just herself, but having a week spent with her parents being hosts to Timoteo, now her Oji-san, made her wish it would go on longer.

But Setsuna knew he will be leaving tomorrow morning. And she knew she will miss him dearly from the time they spent, and she wants to spend the last day well.

It was the afternoon when she and her Oji-san went to the beach. The season was still too cold to swim in the sea, but it was fine with Tsuna. She hadn’t learned to swim yet and the sea is not the best place to learn when the waves can become big and pull her in.

“It’s very beautiful today, Oji-san.” Tsuna commented, walking beside him. There were some people who looked at Timoteo. Likely because of his distinctly foreign features.

“Indeed, the air is very refreshing,” Timoteo returned, walking by her side.

Tsuna felt the cool ocean mist on her frame, she wrapped and snuggled to the collar of her jacket. “Ahh~! But it’s so cold!” Tsuna exclaimed and shivered.

Timoteo chuckled, “Would you like some hot chocolate or milk to warm up?”

Tsuna nodded, “If it isn’t any trouble Oji-san…” her voice trailed.

“It isn’t trouble at all, Setsuna.” Timoteo assured.

The two of them walked up to a vending machine with Timoteo choosing one hot chocolate and a black coffee.

“Here you are,” Timoteo said and held it out.

Tsuna held her drink in both hands and smiled, “Thank you Oji-san.” She opened her drink and carefully sipped, trying to contain her blush of embarrassment.

The two of them sat on the benches next to the machine before Tsuna spoke up, “Oji-san?”

“Yes Setsuna?” Timoteo acknowledged.

“…What is your home Italia like?” She asked curiously. She told her grandfather figure all about herself throughout the week, but he didn’t tell much about his own life. She was curious to know as much as she could.

“Hmm...” Timoteo thought for a moment. Part of himself didn’t want to disclose his hidden life and work too deeply with the young girl, but he also didn’t want to lie to her. More than anything, he wanted his grandniece to succeed in her future, but the kind of success may tread in darker waters. “My home country Italia is a very beautiful country. Like Nippon, the land and climate are many and different with, the north being colder and the south warmer. My home in Turin is surrounded by mountains and fields, it’s colder than the rest of the country but I’m very proud of it.”

“Mmm,” Tsuna nodded in understanding, “Is it near the sea like Namimori is?”

“It is much farther than in Namimori, but I visit the sea when I have time.” Timoteo said.

“Ah,” Tsuna felt more self-conscious, her cheeks flushed. “Did you miss your home, while saying in Namimori?”

Timoteo looked out to the open water, “When I was younger, I would become homesick when I traveled.” The elder man’s graze softened, “but when I look out to the sea, I knew it connected where Italia is. So I did not feel as homesick.”

“Ahh,” Tsuna said in awe, “that is true, you must have travelled to so many places and saw the seashore. They must be amazing Oji-san.”

Timoteo nodding, “They are, someday when you are older, maybe you will see many shores with your Otou-san and Oka-san, possibly new friends along the way.”

“Will you walk with me in some of them too Oji-san?” Tsuna hoped.

“Of course, I would love to.” Timoteo assured.

Before long, the two family members finished their drinks and promptly discarded them in bins.

“Oji-san, there is something I want to do.” Tsuna said with more cheer. “I want to draw on the sand.” Tsuna ran out to get two pieces of thin driftwood and handed one to Timoteo.

“What would you like to draw?” Timoteo questioned her play.

Tsuna thought for a moment, “I would like to draw my house, with you, Oka-san, and Otou-san with me.”

Timoteo watched his grandniece draw out a square faced house front with a slanted rectangle for a side view, and triangular roof. She drew a tree with a tire swinging to the left of house, and following four stick figures of Tsuna in between Timoteo and Iemitsu with Nana in the far right holding hands with her husband.

“I can’t draw very well, but this is my favourite thing to draw.” Tsuna said fondly, “I love my family more than anything, and I want to have them close to my heart forever.”

Timoteo looked on the drawing wordlessly, feeling both pride and guilt. “Tsuna, I would like to tell you a story my own mother told me since I was a boy.”

Timoteo started to draw out wavy lines, above a succession of arcs becoming smaller and smaller until they were seven bars, and below the waves were a small clam shape within a larger one. Each drawing had a title.

“虹Niji (Rainbow), 海Umi (Sea), 浅蜊Asari (Clam)” Tsuna read each kanji title out loud.

“Yes,” Timoteo confirmed.

“The Sea knows no bounds.

The Clam passes down its form from Generation to Generation.

The Rainbow appears from time to time before fading away.” The older man pronounced.

“This was the poem based on a longer story. The story goes with a boy and a girl whom each lived in the other side of the world, visited in their dreams by an ocean spirit. The spirit gave each of them a half clam shell and told each one to sail across the seas and see the world and all it offered. In their travels, the boy and the girl each went through different joys and hardships in sees the new lands, the new cultures, and everything else, but what made their journeys worthwhile is knowing another person was seeing the world similar yet unique to their own.”

Timoteo looked down to Tsuna with more warmth, “And one day, on a beach like this, the boy and girl grew to be a man and woman. Each of them noticed the half clam similar to their own and they both were happy to finale meet the other. And as if the ocean spirit heard their joy, a rainbow shown in the sky giving a sign that more moments like these are in their future.”

Tsuna felt incredible joy and a blush followed, “That’s a really nice story, Oji-san! It’s also really romantic~.”

Timoteo chuckled, “I can see why you think so.”

Tsuna looked out to the ocean again, “I will see the world one day, and I will see it with the people I love.”

Right through the afternoon, the waves were lapping against the sea wall and the shores to smooth the sand that drew the characters, leaving their stories hidden by the sea.

Since that day after, a great storm will blow.


End file.
